Monday, September 14, 2015

Miscellaneous tops

I’ve been sewing more than blogging, the way it goes from time to time. I’m working on new pants which I’ve drafted myself, more on that in a separate post. This post is mainly about the tops I made.

First this BurdaStyle top which is double layered. I had this fabric around which is a bit sheer on its own. I made the blouse of Vogue 1440 early summer, never got round to do a blog post about that one, but learned that it was too sheer to wear without underlayer. So this top was the perfect choice for it. Actually it was the pdf pattern I traced in my previous post, I did not have the issue it was published in (July 2013).  It’s a nice basic for summer, will have to stay in the closet for a while now as it’s getting chillier here.

BurdaStyle twist shoulderimage

Couldn’t be more basic, a white top based on an Ottobre pattern. Meant to be worn under a jacket or cardigan. I changed the neckline and made it deeper. Initially I made the neckline band using the technique shown in this video by Sarah Veblen. It’s a good technique in general but did not work for me this time. Probably because I stretched too much. In the end I measured the circumference of the neckline on the pattern and subtracting 20% for the length of the neckline band. Worked perfectly.

Ottobre

The Presto top by SavageCoco is very popular at the moment  and I jumped on the bandwagon. A lovely top. The inside finishing is very neat. The construction is described well, just do as instructed and you get a perfect finish of the neckline/shoulder area. I’m not often using the so called “Indie patterns”, often they are too expensive and/or too basic for my liking but this top was very reasonably priced ($4.99). Combined with the positive reviews on it, it was worth trying.

Presto top

I sewed a medium size and it turned out to be too tight. Too much negative ease for my liking. But the fabric is sooo nice and soft that I hated to throw it away. It fitted my daughter very well, but she didn’t like it. As this will mostly be worn under a jacket or cardigan too I added a strip of fabric to the side. It goes from the hem at the bottom in one long strip to the sleeves too, as these were very tight as well. Next time I’ll trace the large size.

Extra strip Presto top

The last one I made yesterday, it’s StyleArc’s Gail top. After making this photo I hemmed it and am wearing it today, casual with a nice twist. The fabric was bought a few years ago and all the time I did not know which top I would make from it. Then I thought about this variation and I quite like it. I’m going to do some work on the pattern for my next iteration: take out a bit in the center front waist area and have the neckline cross a bit higher. Both are figure related problems, not a pattern fault. Though StyleArc’s instructions are confusing. One sentence says “sew together”, the next one “join together”. I was thinking I had to do something else than sewing together in the last instruction. Could be my English but it was confusing me. And as construction is not that obvious, I was referring to and needing the instructions. They could do better on that.

StyleArc Gail image

Three of these four tops were pdf patterns that I traced using the method described in my previous post. I really like to do it that way.

And to finish off for today (mainly for my own reference): another shawl finished:

18 comments:

  1. Very pretty and practical tops. Beautiful shawl.

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  2. BEAUTIFUL tops!

    I have had that Burda in my plans for awhile and absolutely love the SA twist top. Your shawl is beautiful too.

    I actually really like your added side panels to that top. Adds an extra layer of interest.

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  3. Your shawl is stunning and I bet that blue works beautifully with your colorin. I like your tops, particularly the striped crisscross one, being a big stripe fan.

    I've used that strip in the side seam trick for many a rescue! Very nice work, Sigrid!

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  4. Wow...you have been really productive. The tops are lovely but I especially like the striped one. Great choice of pattern. And what can I say about your shawl.... It's just amazing!

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  5. Those are all beautiful tops, you have been very busy.

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  6. Great variety of tops. I find Stylearc instructions confusing too. And I speak the same language!

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  7. A lovely selection. I think most people find that the Style Arc instructions are poor - basically you get the pattern only with a few instructions. Your shawl is stunning, such a lovely shade as well.

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  8. Love the whole outfit! Great fabric and pattern making.

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  9. Love your tops! They look great. I would love to see the blue striped StyleArc on you.

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  10. You can never have too many tops! Love the way you've used the stripe in the StyleArc one!

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  11. All of them are so nice and I would wear them instantly!
    Do you ever sleep? ;-)

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  12. You never put a foot wrong. Love all of these tops and am reminded that I need some new whites myself.

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  13. Amazing posts about different basic white tops! After seeing this post, I had a look at my closet and wanted to add a few basic tops to my collection. I especially loved the first one and wanted to try making it for myself. Do you think a beginner like me can do it properly? I am just starting with the sewing trend and getting inputs from other sewing blogs (like Kayla Green’s) to learn more.

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  14. @Kristine: The first top has two layers of fabric and is a bit awkward to sew at the shoulder seams. I would not advice this top to a beginner.

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  15. Love love love the navy & white striped top. The pattern is perfect for that fabric.

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  16. Such fun seeing your tops. The presto popover beckons - you know, how you get an itch for a pattern, and just have to go ahead and get it! The shawl is so very pretty. What a lovely color. I've just found your blog and am really enjoying your posts. Coco

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  17. Nice tops. I particularly like the Style Arc pattern and I have that one. It's time I made it up too.

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  18. The stripes work so very well on the Gail top - bravo! I am working on the same top in a solid, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to attach the collar. The instructions and the diagrams do not help at all! So another bravo for figuring it out in a different language!

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